Αθήνα: τρεις συλλήψεις για κλοπές σε καταστήματα

Three women, 52, 32 and 21 years old, were arrested in the afternoon of Monday, August 17, 2026 in the historic center of Athens. According to the announcement of the Hellenic Police, made public on Tuesday, August 18 by the Attica Journalist Information Office, the arrests were made by police officers of the Anti-Trafficking Team of the Patrol Sub-Directorate of the Athens Police Directorate. The three are accused of theft by co-operation and by continuation, that is, for acts that were allegedly carried out jointly and were repeated. As a result of the investigation, products from two stores in the historic center were seized, which were attributed to the process as evidence. The announcement does not mention their value.

Arrest in the open means that the offense was discovered during its commission or immediately after, in which case the summary procedure provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure is activated. In practice, the arrested person is taken without delay to the competent police station, a case file is drawn up and referred to the Public Prosecutor within short deadlines. In this specific case, the three women were taken to the T.D.E.E. Acropolis, where the proceedings were completed, and then to the Prosecutor. Whether an immediate trial or referral to a regular trial will follow is decided by the prosecutor and depends on the characterization of the act. Until an irrevocable decision is issued, all three are presumed innocent.

The Trafficking Team is primarily active in the control of illegal outdoor trade in the city center, on streets with high pedestrian traffic such as those around the Acropolis, Monastiraki and Ermou. The same patrols often detect other crimes as they move to the places where the largest number of visitors gather. In August, traffic in the historic center peaks and stores operate full hours and are crowded, conditions that make it difficult to monitor merchandise and explain why policing during this period focuses on shoplifting. Professionals in the area have repeatedly raised the issue, calling for a constant police presence on shopping streets.

The case filed will be decided by the judiciary and it has not been announced if the three women are connected to other incidents. The police release does not include identifying information, as is required when release conditions are not met, and TodayGrid does not release names or other identifying information in cases of this type. The stores from which the products came are not named in the announcement either. Shoplifting cases often result in a settlement after the products are returned, without this negating the criminal process when a subsequent performance is attributed. No further information on the course of the case had been given until the evening of Tuesday, August 18.